Chapter 4: The Number She Couldn't Explain
David didn't move.
For several seconds, he stood in the hallway with the blue folder pressed against his chest, staring at Jessica as though the woman before him had become a stranger overnight.
“How much?”” he asked.
Jessica rubbed her palms against her robe.
“I don't remember the exact amount.””
“Then give me an estimate.””
“David, this isn't helping anybody.””
“How much money is missing from my daughter's account?””
Jessica looked toward the stairs, where Tyler had disappeared.
“Can we please discuss this privately?””
“No. You've had years to discuss it privately. Now we're going to discuss it honestly.””
Jasmine stood beside her father, her heart pounding. She had expected Jessica to deny everything, perhaps blame a bookkeeping mistake or accuse David of forgetting his own transactions.
She hadn't expected her stepmother to admit that more money was missing.
“How much, Jessica?”” Jasmine asked.
Her stepmother's gaze snapped toward her.
“You need to stop speaking to me as if you're in charge here.””
“Then stop making me ask where my mother's money went.””
“Jasmine,” David warned gently, not because he disagreed with her, but because he could hear the pain threatening to overwhelm her.
Jessica seized the interruption.
“See? This is what I mean. Everything becomes about Jasmine.
Every conversation, every decision, every dollar. You and I haven't been able to make one financial decision without your daughter standing in the middle of it.””
David's expression hardened.
“She wasn't standing in the middle of anything until you threatened to throw her out over money.””
Jessica opened her mouth, then closed it.
Jasmine looked down at the blue folder. She thought about the college textbooks she had bought secondhand, the extra shifts she worked at a neighborhood grocery store, and the scholarships she had applied for because she didn't want her father to struggle.
She had once turned down a weekend trip with classmates because she couldn't afford it.
Meanwhile, someone had apparently been moving thousands of dollars that her mother had saved for her future.
“Dad,” she said quietly, “I want to know the whole amount. Even if it's bad.””
David nodded.
“So do I.””
He returned to the office, placed the folder on the desk, and opened his laptop. Jessica followed, but she remained near the doorway, her arms folded tightly across her chest.
David logged into the banking portal for the account he remembered opening after Renee's death. He had changed banks twice over the years, but the old account statements were available through the archive.
He searched the transaction history.
At first, the entries seemed ordinary. Insurance proceeds. Funeral expenses. A transfer to cover medical bills.
Then the withdrawals began.
Eight thousand dollars to an account bearing Jessica's former surname.
Ten thousand dollars to an account David couldn't immediately identify.
Six thousand five hundred dollars transferred several months later.
Another four thousand.
David's breathing grew shallow.
Jasmine stood behind his chair, watching the figures accumulate.
“That's twenty-eight thousand five hundred dollars,” she whispered.
“Not all of it may have gone to Jessica,” David said.
“Some transfers could have been legitimate household expenses. We need the receiving account records.””
“But we know about the ten thousand.””
“Yes.””
“And the eight thousand.””
David looked at Jessica.
“Did you receive the eight thousand dollars?””
Jessica's shoulders slumped slightly.
“Yes.””
“What was it for?””
“I had debts.””
“What debts?””
“Credit cards. Medical bills. Things I was dealing with before we got married.””
“You told me those were paid off.””
“They were not all paid off.””
David stared at her.
“You took money intended for Jasmine to pay your personal debts?””
“I was going to repay it!””
“When?””
Jessica's eyes filled with tears.
“When I could!””
David turned back to the laptop.
Jasmine watched her stepmother's tears with a strange mixture of anger and disappointment. For years, she had tried to understand Jessica's hostility. She had wondered whether her stepmother felt threatened by her relationship with David or resented the reminders of a woman who had died.
Now she wondered whether Jessica's resentment had been fed by something more practical.
Money.
If Jasmine's account remained untouched, Jessica would always have to share the household's financial attention with a child who wasn't hers. But if the money disappeared, Jasmine would have to depend on David, and David was already working himself exhausted.
It was an ugly possibility.
It was also the first explanation that made the past two years fit together.
David clicked on another transaction.
A recurring payment appeared, scheduled on the same day each month. The recipient was a financial services company, and the payments ranged from $350 to $700.
“Do you recognize this?”” he asked.
Jessica leaned forward.
Then she stopped.
“Jessica?””
She looked away.
“It's a loan payment.””
“For what?””
She remained silent.
David opened the transaction details. The payments had begun twenty months earlier.
“Whose loan?””
Jessica swallowed.
“Mine.””
“What did you borrow money for?””
“I had expenses.””
“What expenses?””
She looked at Jasmine.
“Tyler's school. His activities. Things you didn't always agree were necessary.””
David shook his head slowly.
“You told me his activities were paid for.””
“They were. Eventually.””
“By using Jasmine's money?””
“I was going to replace it.””
“You keep saying that as if repeating it makes it true.””
Jessica's face crumpled, but she quickly straightened.
“I was trying to keep this family together.””
“No,” David said.
“You were trying to keep me from asking questions.””
Jasmine's phone vibrated in her pocket. She ignored it.
David scrolled further down the account history. Then he found a transaction that made him sit back.
A withdrawal of $14,000 had been made just over a year earlier.
The receiving account was unfamiliar.
“Jessica, what is this?””
She leaned toward the screen.
Her face went completely white.
David turned slowly.
“Who received fourteen thousand dollars?””
Jessica gripped the doorframe.
“I can't explain that right now.””
“You've had a year.””
“I need to check something.””
“What?””
“I need to check my records.””
David stood.
“No more excuses. We are going to the bank tomorrow. We're going to obtain the records for every receiving account we can legally access, and if the money went somewhere else, we'll find out where.””
Jessica shook her head.
“You can't treat me like a criminal.””
“Then help me understand what happened.””
She stared at him, breathing quickly.
For a moment, Jasmine thought Jessica might finally tell them everything.
Instead, she turned and hurried upstairs.
Her bedroom door slammed.
David remained beside the desk, his shoulders rigid.
Jasmine touched his arm.
“Dad, are you okay?””
He looked at her, and she saw shame settle over his face.
“I should have checked those accounts years ago.””
“You didn't know.””
“I should have known. Your mother trusted me to protect that money.””
Jasmine's throat tightened.
“I'm not blaming you for what Jessica did.””
“But you trusted me to protect you.””
She couldn't answer.
David pulled her into a hug. This time, she held him tightly, not because everything was all right, but because neither of them knew how much worse the truth might become.
After a moment, David stepped back.
“I'm going to call the bank's fraud department. I'll also speak with an attorney before moving anything or making accusations we can't substantiate.””
Jasmine nodded.
Then she remembered the text Tyler had sent his mother that morning.
Did she give you the money yet?
“Dad, what if the two thousand dollars wasn't really for a phone?””
David looked at her.
“What do you mean?””
“Jessica keeps changing the amounts. Eight hundred, twelve hundred, two thousand. Maybe she needs the money for something else.””
David's expression grew grim.
“You might be right.””
A sound came from upstairs.
A drawer slammed.
Then another.
Jasmine looked toward the ceiling.
“She's packing.””
David walked to the hallway and called up the stairs.
“Jessica! Don't leave this house until we've talked about what happened.””
No answer came.
He turned back toward Jasmine.
“We can't force her to stay. But we can protect the records and make sure the bank knows about the questionable transfers.””
Jasmine nodded, though her stomach had begun to twist.
If Jessica left, would she take the answers with her?
A few minutes later, David's phone rang.
The number was unfamiliar.
He answered, listening in silence.
Then his face changed.
“What do you mean, the account was closed?””
Jasmine stepped closer.
David gripped the phone.
“When was it closed?””
He listened again.
“Who requested the closure?””
A pause.
Then he whispered, “Jessica Miller.””
The call ended.
Jasmine felt the blood drain from her face.
David slowly lowered the phone.
“The account that received the ten thousand dollars was closed six months ago.””
“Where did the money go?””
“The bank can't tell me the final destination without additional records and verification.””
Jasmine stared at him.
“Then how do we find it?””
David looked toward the staircase.
“We start with the person who moved it.””
Above them, a door opened.
Jessica appeared at the top of the stairs carrying a small suitcase.
May you like
And in her other hand was a thick manila envelope.
“Before you call anybody else,” she said, “you need to see what's in here.””
